HELP! Baby ball python extremely skinny and corkscrewing!

[Bogertophis]

Oh, that poor little snake. That is just so sad. You don't even have a good vet to get help from, & you shouldn't have to, with a brand new snake that was supposed to be healthy from the start.

Honestly, you'd be better off returning him & demanding a refund- I hope you didn't pay a lot for this snake, but there's always small claims court* if the person you got it from is as big a jerk as I'm suspecting they are. This is not a snake that should ever have been sold- maybe given away as a "rescue" but not sold. I hate to say this, but I wouldn't get real attached to this snake- this little one is not okay. (*Small claims court- you don't need a lawyer- & the amount you can sue for depends on what state you're in, but just threatening to take them to court might make them decide it's not worth refusing your refund.)

You don't need to wait for any baby snake to defecate before you feed them again -because the small rodents they're eating are mostly digestible, so they may not go for quite a while- not for many meals- see? Pinkies aren't much more than water- fuzzies have a little more nutrition to them, but with tiny bones that are barely there & little or no hair, there's still almost no "waste".

Normally we'd advise not feeding a new snake- for at least a week, due to their stress, many will refuse anyway. But this one, being skinny & all- if you can get him to eat, I'd probably go ahead & try it. There's not a lot to lose, honestly.

One more thing: if you're going to ask to return him & get a refund, you should do it right away! Otherwise, he'll claim the snake wasn't like this when he sold it & try to blame you- trust me. A herp vet's opinion would be helpful for you, but costly, & apparently not available anyway.

I'd suggest you try to return the snake a.s.a.p. because IF "TLC" could fix him, it will likely take a long time- at which point, you're stuck with him. If you do try & he says "no" & you decide to try taking him to small claims court, keep these videos of the snake because pretty much ANYONE can tell this snake isn't okay. I assume the video has a date in it? If not, make sure you take one that does- you need to prove you got him this way.